Page 82 - Sothebys Speelman Gems of Chinese Art

This outstanding carving embodies the Chinese relics: gold, silver, jades and other
flourishing artistic tradition of the production precious stones], Shanghai, 1996, p. 54, pl. 166.
of jade animals and particular enthusiasm for
Further examples of related early mythical jade
mythical creatures during the Han dynasty.
animals include the famous Eastern Han dynasty
In contrast to the majority of earlier two-
bixie in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
dimensional jade carvings, made for the afterlife
included in the Museum’s exhibition Splendid
or to adorn the individual, these figural sculptures
Treasures. A Hundred Masterpieces of the
were created in the round as independent
National Palace Museum on Parade, 2012, cat.
objects. They assumed a role of being both a
no. 18; and the Han dynasty jade winged beast
sumptuous display item for the appreciation of
in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The
the elite as well as serving as a reminder of the
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
powerful supernatural forces latent in the world.
Museum. Jadeware (I), Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 201.
Evidence of this rich tradition of craftsmanship The bixie is a mythical animal with the head
has been transmitted down through a small of a lion, a single horn, and wings. After being
number of exceptional carvings, such as the introduced into Chinese culture from the western
present piece, which capture the creature’s regions, it was frequently depicted during the
innate power and otherworldliness. A transition from the Western Han to the Eastern
comparable example of this quality includes Han dynasties. It appeared in a variety of
one sold in our New York rooms, 2nd November media, from large-scale stone sculptures along
1979, lot 51, and now in the collection of Sir the spirit paths of mausoleums to small and
Joseph Hotung. Catalogued as Six Dynasties in delicate accessories made of gold, silver and
the 1979 auction, it was more recently redated copper. These various artefacts make the bixie
to the Han period by Jessica Rawson in Chinese an important example of vernacular Chinese
Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, representations of mythical animals. See Sun Ji,
1995, pl. 26:7, on account of its similarity to a Handai wuzhi wenhua ziliao tushuo/Illustrated
jade bixie discovered in 1972 at Xianyang near Explanations of the Material Culture of the Han
present-day Xian, near the tomb of the Han Dynasty, Beijing, 1991, p. 420; Li Ling, ‘Lun
emperor Yuandi (r. 48-33BC), now housed in Zhongguo de you yi shenshou [Discussion of
the collection of Xianyang City Museum, and Chinese winged beasts]’, Zhongguo xueshu/
illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua dacidian: Chinese Scholarship, vol. 5, January 2001, pp.
jin yin yu shi juan [Encyclopedia of important
62-135.

80 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比